xmrv Is something that has drawn me into this forum, after never really getting involved with ME groups. I searched for years to understand a cause, then xmrv dangles a carrot in front of my face, giving me a possible explanation for the illness, and a reason why i had to suffer with little help from doctors, I always belived a virus was to blame because of the way the illness onset, but of course was that virus xmrv ? what i find interesting is this, if xmrv was the cause of my early viral attacks leading to the diagnosis of ME, Then how come the primates infected with xmrv did not develop fevers and flu like attacks ? either one has to have been infected years before, and it takes so many years for the virus to kick in ? or xmrv can not by itself produce these type of flu like attacks leading to chronic ME /CFS type illness ( both of these scenarios could account for the healthy xmrv positive population ) or i am not infected with xmrv and it is not a cause of the viral like illness that lead to chronic ME symptoms for many years.
Its possible i was infected early on ( as a young man ) then caught another virus, and xmrv then does something else, the two strike theory others here have mentioned. I know this, if xmrv is causative of ME /CFS and if i was diagnosed correctly, and if i have xmrv. Then the virus does not seem to destroy the host at all, but seems to
have a initiall abillty to cause or help cause flu like fevers leading to chronic illness.
But the immune system over time seems to strike ( it takes years ) a balancing act of letting the virus stay at certain levels within the body, when those levels become critical the body mounts a defensive, and puts it to bed, untill such time xmrv mounts another attack, its also possible a gradual release of cytokins into the blood stream occur daily weekly ect, as a direct response of the immune system trying to live in harmony with this lifelong virus. over many years ( say 15 ) the immune system actually gets pretty good at either mounting frequent mild immune attacks responses against xmrv keeping the status quo
Or the immune system generally teaches itself over time, not to react too much against the virus, because it has learned the battle is futile. But still the immune response does occur, just not as much ( most likely mild frequent immune responnses against xmrv ) How do i know all this, because for arguments sake 1 im assuming i am xmrv positive, 2 i am assuming its causative either directly or the two strike theory ( xmrv weakens the immune system leaving it open to infections ) yes even yeast type infections could be a problem with this senario. ( i have had these problems, still do ) 3 i have recovered quite a lot in the last few years, argueing that the body can strike a deal with xmrv, which makes sense because of the healthy xmrv population.
So much of this makes perfect sense yet somethings do not. im bothered that the primates didnt produce fever when infected with xmrv, but of course they shouldnt because of the healthy xmrv positive people we know about. either xmrv does indeed take time to develop into a fever producing illness or it takes time to weaken the immune system so infections become more dominent, and or once this happens, our immune systems actually learn over time how to live in harmony with xmrv.
Maybe the abillty to live in harmony, is the key here folks, explaining healthy xmrv people, no fever in primates, and the abillty for chronic illness to improve, once xmrv goes problematic in the immune system
Should add i dont have a clue what the hell im going on about. But hope other more knowledgable people can see my points, and pick up clues from me trying so hard to figure this out, through my life experiance. Yes i hope its Xmrv It would explain my life, and reasons for having that life, and if i relapse, could offer hope for me PHEW. Not sure what other hope there is really, the science paper really was that exciting wasnt it, its not jumping on the bandwagon, its seeing exciting evidence suggesting xmrv is indeed striking a immune balance harmony with our immune systems, though its possible not all immune systems will react the same ? lifes full of guesswork.